In college and university fundraising, mergers and initial public offerings can create donor-deadlines windows of opportunity during which prospective donors can make tax-favored major gifts. Development officers need to monitor their prospects' holdings for these deadlines. Categories of donor prospects to consider and indicators to watch are…

Defines return on investment (ROI); describes the individual articles included in this special section of the journal which focuses on the process of ROI in organizations. Together, this collection of articles displays a wide variety of views about the necessity for ROI and the quality and quantity of its use. (AEF)

Investment returns on college and university endowments for 1997 was the sixth double-digit gain in the 1990s and the highest since 1986. Fiscal year 1998 is experiencing greater market volatility, with more modest returns predicted. Institutions with endowments of over $1 billion have increased from 20 to 25 in one year; this group holds nearly…

A literature review found that business spending on vocational education and training varied by size, specialty, and location. Business interest in return on investment differed from government goals for encouraging training investment and may not be aligned with long-term national goals for laborforce development. (SK)

Describes how the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, traditionally conservative in its investments, is taking a riskier approach in the hope of increasing returns; moves include consideration of a private financial services spinoff. (EV)

The upwardly mobile economy has propelled earnings on college endowments into double digits for the sixth consecutive year, with average returns on investments of 18.2%. The range was 5.6 to 38%, with the highest performer having 85.1% of investments in stocks and 13.6% in domestic bonds. On average, large endowments performed better than small…

Offers guidelines to college business officers concerning investments in real estate and the unrelated business income tax (UBIT), which requires tax-exempt organizations to pay federal and state taxes on income earned from a trade or business unrelated to their tax-exempt purpose. Considers real estate investment funds, exposure to UBIT, avoiding…

Based on an annual endowment study, experts at the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Endowment Forum examine today's uncertain financial picture and discuss the pros and cons of hedge funds, private equity, and fund of funds. (EV)

Reports evidence that George W. Bush's financial and political success has been linked to the two richest university endowments in the United States--Harvard University and the University of Texas System, specifically the University of Texas Investment Management Company. Notes that officials of both universities' management companies denied any…

Back in middle school Dr. Paquita Friday began helping keep books at her grandmother's pharmacy during inventory. It was no chore, she recalls. It was fun. By then, of course, she already knew she had a knack for numbers. Today Friday is gaining recognition for her research in accounting stock market disclosures and winning awards for her teaching…

The authors demonstrate that people discount delayed outcomes as a result of perceived changes over time in supplies of slack. Slack is the perceived surplus of a given resource available to complete a focal task. The present research shows that, in general, people expect slack for time to be greater in the future than in the present. Typically,…

As science and engineering are taking on an increasing political importance in a knowledge-driven economy, there is growing need for Governments, scientists, industrialists and voluntary groups to measure the degree to which national science policies are contributing effectively to economic and social wellbeing. However, the long-term and diffuse…

This article examines the extent to which family wealth affects the Black-White test score gap for young children based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (aged 3-12). This study found little evidence that wealth mediated the Black-White test scores gaps, which were eliminated when child and family demographic covariates were held…

Within the broad context of its National Human Resource Development Strategy (2001) the South African government has implemented two pieces of legislation, namely the Skills Development Act (Act 97 of 1998), an attempt to boost the nation's productivity by increasing skills levels in the workplace, and the Skills Development Levies Act (Act 9 of…

This article argues that in the drive to develop e-learning initiatives in distance learning, simpler ways of supporting students for retention may be overlooked; for example, the linking of students in the form of mentoring and peer support networks. The article reports on three mentoring projects, in the United Kingdom, Korea and New Zealand,…